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Tag: college baseball

Nick Williams is that rare breed, but in the end the three-sport star from Galveston Ball ended up with neither Texas nor Texas A&M.

Instead, you’ll probably see him playing outfield one day for the Texas Rangers. And the way he’s tearing it up in Double-A, it may not take too long for that dream to be realized.

Williams, 21, was one of the state’s top baseball recruits in the class of 2012. For a long time, he was the cream of the Longhorn commits. Then he wasn’t.

“I liked Texas a lot. Really like Austin. In fact, I’ve lived here in the offseason,” Williams told the American-Statesman recently. “But I liked A&M a lot, too, and I switched to them kind of late in the game. It was a tough choice all the way.”

Before he got to College Station, though, the Texas Rangers came calling. The Rangers made him a second-round draft choice in June, 2012, and he elected to turn professional. Williams got a $500,000 signing bonus.

“It’s hard to pass up something like that,” he said.

Williams is coming along rapidly.

After hitting .313 in rookie ball in 2012, he backed it up with a .293 average, 17 homers and 63 RBIs as a 19-year-old playing Single-A ball in 2013.

Last year Williams hit .283 with 74 RBIs between Single-A and Double-A.

This year he’s off to a torrid start at Double-A Frisco, batting .356 in 45 at bats. It might not be long before he’s in Round Rock with the Express.

“I’d love to make it to Round Rock later this year,” Williams said. “I used to play at Dell Diamond with the Houston Banditos, my summer select team.”

Baseball America lists Williams as the No. 5 prospect in the Rangers organization.

Scouts like his tools in left field, but he’ll need to make more contact and bring his strikeout totals down. Last year he fanned 140 times in 486 at bats.

“My game is power and speed,” Williams said, “and I have hit for a high average.

“I know there is work to be done. I need to be more patient, I need to be more selective in what pitches I go after. There are things to learn in the outfield.”

On the football field at Galveston Ball, Williams was the wide receiver on the other side of Mike Evans, the former Texas A&M All-American and first-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Bucs.

In basketball, Williams was a teammate of Nebraska standout Terran Petteway, who made All-Big Ten in 2013-14.

“I played wide receiver in football and shooting guard in basketball,” Williams said. “Football was actually my best sport, but I thought baseball gave me my best chance. So far it looks good.”

Former LSU All-American pitcher Anthony Ranaudo will make his Dell Diamond debut tonight for the Round Rock Express.

He hasn’t pitched here before, but he’s all too familiar with Texas – and Longhorn fans with him.

Ranaudo helped lead the LSU Tigers over the Texas Longhorns for the 2009 College World Series championship at Omaha, Neb.

The 6-foot-7-inch, 230-pounder won two games in that CWS, including the decisive game three of the finals, 11-4 over the Horns.

“I didn’t have my best stuff, that’s for sure,” he said. “It took me about 120 pitches to get through five or so innings. But we swung the bats well, and it was a great day to be an LSU Tiger.”

Ranaudo allowed four runs on eight hits and stranded nine Longhorns.

“Texas, like LSU, is one of those programs that always seems to be contending for an NCAA baseball title,” Ranaudo said. “Sometimes, you’ve got to go through Texas to win the whole thing.”

Tonight Ranaudo is trying to go through the Memphis Redbirds. He made one road start for Round Rock, pitching five scoreless innings in Oklahoma City. He’ll face the St. Louis Cardinals best pitching prospect, Marco Gonzales.

Ranaudo, one of the top arms in the Texas organization, was called up for a spot start by the Rangers last week. It did not go well. He allowed six runs in 1 2/3 innings against the Angels.

A 2010 compensatory first-round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox, Ranaudo was traded to the Rangers over the winter for left-handed pitcher Robbie Ross.

Ranaudo was a Triple-A All-Star at Pawtucket last year, going 14-4 with a 2.61 ERA.

“I know the PCL can be a tough place to pitch, but I’m looking forward taking my next step in Round Rock,” he said. “I’ve heard a lot of good things about it.”

TCU hasn’t dominated Big 12 baseball so far this year as some people expected, but Horned Frogs pitchers certainly are doing their part.

The Horned Frogs are tied for third place with Texas Tech at 7-5 in league play. They are 26-8 overall and ranked as high as sixth in the nation by Baseball America. TCU’s pitching staff leads the Big 12 and is one of the tops in the country with a 2.37 ERA.

Preston Morrison is one of three TCU pitchers who are candidates for the Golden Spikes Award as the top player in the country.

Preston Morrison was named conference pitcher of the week Monday for the second time this season. Morrison (7-1, 1.99) is coming off his ninth career complete game and sixth career complete-game shutout, breezing through the Kansas State lineup.

Morrison, a senior from Waxhaw, N.C., is one of three TCU pitchers named to the USA Golden Spikes Award 60-man midseason watch list. He is joined by Mitchell Traver and closer Riley Ferrell. No other school can match that group.

* Morrison, 32-10 in his career, is the reigning Big 12 pitcher of the year and the active career leader in ERA with a 1.57 mark in his three years.

* Traver is 5-1 with a 2.14 ERA and has piled up 44 strikeouts in 46 innings with just 12 walks.

* Ferrell, one of the hardest throwers in college ball, is top-10 in Big 12 career saves with 27, including a league-nine nine this year.

Texas outfielder Ben Johnson of Westwood High and Oklahoma State starting pitcher Michael Freeman also made the Golden Spikes list.

Johnson is one of the few sticks the Longhorns have, batting .348 with 24 runs, 22 RBIs and eight stolen bases. Johnson leads the Big 12 in triples with seven and is near the top in total bases.

Freeman (6-1, 1.29) tops the league in innings pitched (62.2) and strikeouts (53). He has held opponents to a .184 batting average.

The Golden Spikes list will be narrowed to 30 players May 7, and semifinalists will be announced May 22.

On May 22, fans will be able to vote for their favorite semifinalists at GoldenSpikesAward.com. As part of this selection process, all voters will be asked to choose three players from the list. On Tuesday, June 2, USA Baseball will announce the finalists, and voting will once again commence that same day. The Golden Spikes Award winner will be named on Tuesday, June 23.

Brown was overall player of the week after batting .429 with six RBIs in five games and triggering the Wildcats to a surprising series victory over TCU. Brown knocked in four runs in a 14-4 clubbing of the Frogs in the series opener.

Wolf and Hutch shared the newcomer award. Wolf batted .333 with five runs and seven RBIs for the Wildcats. Hutch was 9 for 15 with six RBIs, all coming with two outs for the Mountaineers.